Breaking Zcash: Blockchain and the Art of Security Theater
The cameras were rolling as Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd set fire to the computer he'd just used to help bring Zcash to life. Wearing a gas mask he’d purchased at a local shop near Valemount, British Columbia, he burned the components with a propane torch until they turned almost completely black. His intention was to prevent anyone from ever recovering their contents. Todd then bagged up the torched components, and drove in a rented car from the sparsely populated setting of the ceremony to the small town of Kamloops, better known for its pulp mill than for being one of the....
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On October 28 the Zcash (ZEC) project will release its genesis block into the wild. There’s a lot of anticipation for this project, because it will deploy zero-knowledge security. Thanks to this, developers believe Zcash will be a truly anonymous ledger that doesn’t leak or reveal transaction data. The Upcoming Zcash Project Launch The Zero Knowledge....
In the game of anonymity, cryptocurrency fans have embraced Bitcoin and the blockchain technology which drives it. The technology does record and stamp the transaction, and is placed in the cloud, unlike Zcash, which sees its alpha release. Zcash has coded a decentralized network using a public blockchain. He and his team, a group of cryptologists, computer science and information security academics, have launched the first public alpha release of the world’s best effort to date of untraceable digital money. Wilcox’s Zcash, a “zero-knowledge proof” alternative to bitcoin, publishes its....
This is a guest post by Pamela Morgan, Esq., CEO of Third Key Solutions LLC. Security is tricky. Sometimes the most obvious security solution is ineffective and, worse, a distraction from the real risks and issues. In the security industry this is called "security theater." It looks good and makes some people feel secure, but doesn't actually reduce risks. Sometimes security theater even exposes people to even greater risk. Such is the case with third-party identity verification for the recovery of bitcoin accounts. It seems like the obvious solution and feels secure, but, in fact, it....
In January, Bitcoin Magazine reported that a public alpha technology preview of Zcash, “a decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency that aims to set a new standard for privacy and anonymity through the use of groundbreaking cryptography,” had been released on Github. Zcash offers total payment confidentiality, while maintaining a decentralized network using a public blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, Zcash transactions automatically hide the sender, recipient and value of all transactions on the blockchain. Only those with the correct view key can see the contents. Users have complete control....
Despite the controversy that trailed its release, and it being considered as a risky investment, Hashflare has just announced that Zcash has entered the list of its mining contracts. Though some exchanges have put the first permissionless decentralized cryptocurrency that allows users to completely hide not only the value of their transactions, but also their identity to trade on their platforms. However, while a few cloud mining sites agreed to offer mining services for the currency, the best way to acquire the new currency is by mining until enough tokens become available on exchanges.....